The second annual City of Athens congress "Greece in the World:
Byzantine Studies", will take place in the Greek capital on June 25, 26
and 27.

The three-day event is the second of a cycle of congresses with the
overall title "Greece in the World" www.elladastonkosmo.gr which was
inaugurated by Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis.

The objective of this congresses, organised in collaboration by Athens'
cultural organisation and the Athens Concert Hall, is the projection
and outlining of scientific work that takes place all over the world on
behalf of Greece.

Çooded gunmen shot and killed a 41-year-old police counter-terrorism
officer in central Athens at dawn on Wednesday, as he sat inside an
unmarked police vehicle parked outside the apartment of a witness in an
ongoing urban terrorism trial, a woman who had been in a witness
protection programme since 2002.

The three gunmen, later identified with a shadowy terror gang blamed
for at least two recent shooting attacks, riddled the police officer
with bullets at 6:20 a.m. in the densely populated Athens district of
Ano Patissia. They fled the scene on foot and escaped aboard two
high-powered motorcycles, along with an accomplice.

During a press conference at police headquarters in the early
afternoon, a spokesman said the "Revolutionaries Sect" was responsible
for the deadly attack. The same group had been blamed for an attack on
a Piraeus-area (Korydallos) police precinct in February 2009 and on a
television station (Alter) the same month. No one was injured in either
of the two February terrorist strikes.

According to later reports, at least 24 cartridges -- 9mm diameter --
were collected from the scene. Police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis said
that ballistics tests carried out on the cartridges showed that two
guns had been involved, with nine cartridges fired from a weapon also
used in previous hits attributed to 'Revolutionaries Sect'.

The police spokesman also appealed to witnesses to come forward with
any bit of information relating to the attack, however small.

The victim was identified as police sergeant Antonios Nektarios Savvas,
married and the father of a young girl, who was serving in the
counter-terrorism unit's operations division.

Savvas was guarding a key witness in the trial of several defendants
accused of involvement with the now defunct "Revolutionary Popular
Struggle" (ELA) urban guerrilla group, the ex-wife of one of the
defendants.

He went on duty at 6 a.m., taking over from the two colleagues who
completed an early morning shift outside the home of the woman. The
latter had testified as a material witness at the ELA trial three days
earlier.

The officer had gotten a cup of coffee and took his place in the
driver's seat of the vehicle when, according to eyewitnesses, the
gunmen approached the car and fired more than 20 rounds, fatally
injuring him in the chest and head.

Local residents said they knew who the woman was, and saw police
guarding her, while they also said she frequently circulated alone.

A local medical examiner said the officer suffered multiple gunshot
wounds to his left side, including a wound to the head, from very close
range. He said the victim died instantly. Savvas' service revolver was
still in his belt, police said. A later autopsy report said there were
12 entry wounds on his body where bullets had hit the unlucky officer.